--- title: Then the cruel creatures laughed, and repeated what they had said th… — The Yellow Fairy Book · tree and pragmatics description: Then the cruel creatures laughed, and repeated what they had said the day before; but when Ferko continued to beg and beseech them, the eldest said at last, ‘If you will let us put out one of your eyes and break one of your legs, then we will give you a bit of our bread.’ Who acts: cruel creatures, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/14/17/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Yellow Fairy Book](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/) / [The Grateful Beasts(11), part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/14/) / 17 # The Yellow Fairy Book, The Grateful Beasts(11), part 1, sentence 17 Then the cruel creatures laughed, and repeated what they had said the day before; but when Ferko continued to beg and beseech them, the eldest said at last, ‘If you will let us put out one of your eyes and break one of your legs, then we will give you a bit of our bread.’ **Who acts:** cruel creatures, creatures, Ferko, you, us, we · **What happens:** laugh, repeat, say, continue, beg, beseech · **To what, where:** creatures, last, us, one, bit, you · **Speech:** someone speaks here This is a sentence of «The Yellow Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, The Grateful Beasts(11), part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (cruel creatures, creatures, Ferko, you), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg640:14:17 # text = Then the cruel creatures laughed, and repeated what they had said the day before; but when Ferko continued to beg and beseech them, the eldest said at last, ‘If you will let us put out one of your eyes and break one of your legs, then we will give you a bit of our bread.’ 1 Then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 5 advmod _ _ 2 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 4 det _ _ 3 cruel cruel ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 4 amod _ _ 4 creatures creature NOUN NNS Number=Plur 5 nsubj _ _ 5 laughed laugh VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 0 root _ SpaceAfter=No 6 , , PUNCT , _ 8 punct _ _ 7 and and CCONJ CC _ 8 cc _ _ 8 repeated repeat VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 5 parataxis _ _ 9 what what PRON WP PronType=Int 12 obj _ _ 10 they they PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 12 nsubj _ _ 11 had have AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 12 aux _ _ 12 said say VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part 8 conj _ _ 13 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 14 det _ _ 14 day day NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obl:unmarked _ _ 15 before before ADV RB _ 12 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 16 ; ; PUNCT , _ 20 punct _ _ 17 but but CCONJ CC _ 20 cc _ _ 18 when when ADV WRB PronType=Int 20 advmod _ _ 19 Ferko Ferko PROPN NNP Number=Sing 20 nsubj _ _ 20 continued continue VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 5 parataxis _ _ 21 to to PART TO _ 22 mark _ _ 22 beg beg VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 20 xcomp _ _ 23 and and CCONJ CC _ 24 cc _ _ 24 beseech beseech VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 22 conj _ _ 25 them they PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs 24 obj _ SpaceAfter=No 26 , , PUNCT , _ 28 punct _ _ 27 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 28 det _ _ 28 eldest eld ADJ JJS Degree=Sup 20 advcl _ _ 29 said say VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 28 acl _ _ 30 at at ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 31 last last ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 29 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 32 , , PUNCT , _ 37 punct _ _ 33 ‘ ' PUNCT `` _ 37 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 34 If if SCONJ IN _ 37 mark _ _ 35 you you PRON PRP Case=Nom|Person=2|PronType=Prs 37 nsubj _ _ 36 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 37 aux _ _ 37 let let VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 20 parataxis _ _ 38 us we PRON PRP Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 37 obj _ _ 39 put put VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 37 xcomp _ _ 40 out out ADP RP _ 39 compound:prt _ _ 41 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 39 obj _ _ 42 of of ADP IN _ 44 case _ _ 43 your your PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 44 nmod:poss _ _ 44 eyes eye NOUN NNS Number=Plur 41 nmod _ _ 45 and and CCONJ CC _ 46 cc _ _ 46 break break VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 39 conj _ _ 47 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 46 obj _ _ 48 of of ADP IN _ 50 case _ _ 49 your your PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 50 nmod:poss _ _ 50 legs leg NOUN NNS Number=Plur 47 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 51 , , PUNCT , _ 55 punct _ _ 52 then then ADV RB PronType=Dem 55 advmod _ _ 53 we we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 55 nsubj _ _ 54 will will AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 55 aux _ _ 55 give give VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 37 conj _ _ 56 you you PRON PRP Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs 55 iobj _ _ 57 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 58 det _ _ 58 bit bit NOUN NN Number=Sing 55 obj _ _ 59 of of ADP IN _ 61 case _ _ 60 our our PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 61 nmod:poss _ _ 61 bread bread NOUN NN Number=Sing 58 nmod _ SpaceAfter=No 62 . . PUNCT . _ 5 punct _ SpaceAfter=No 63 ’ ' PUNCT '' _ 5 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **laugh** | past | the cruel creatures | | | | then | | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent | | 2 | **repeat** | participle | | | | | | | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality | | 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | past · perfect | creatures *= creature* | | | | day | before *property* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent what=Topic | | 4 | **continue** | past | Ferko | | | | | | vn continue-55.3 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Eventuality | | 5 | **beg** *speech: request* | to-infinitive | Ferko *not said here* | | | | | | vn beg-58.2-1-1 «NP V PP.Topic»: agent=Agent | | 6 | **beseech** | infinitive | Ferko *not said here* | creatures *= creature* | | | | | tree rules | | 7 | **say** *speech: assert* | participle | | | | last | | | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent | | 8 | **let** *a condition, not said to happen* | future | you | us | | | | | tree rules | | 9 | **put out** | infinitive | us *not said here* | one of your eyes | | | | | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent one=Goal | | 10 | **break** | infinitive | us *not said here* | one of your legs | | | | | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer one=Patient | | 11 | **give** | future | we | a bit of our bread | you | | then | | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: agent=Agent you=Recipient bit=Theme | One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree. **Text:** «The Yellow Fairy Book» by Andrew Lang, Project Gutenberg book 640 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/14/16/) - next →: [sentence 18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/14/18/) - ↑ back to [The Grateful Beasts(11), part 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg640/14/)